Sermon: “An Apocalypse of the Non-Zombie Variety”, Luke 6:27-38/1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 (February 24, 2019)

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Although most, if not all, of us are familiar with the term “apocalypse”, I would venture to guess that fewer of us actually know what it means. Many people assume that “apocalypse” means “end of the world”, and it usually has a pretty violent, catastrophic connotation. While a part of this understanding comes from the apocalyptic literature in our own tradition (like the books of Revelation and Daniel, for example), I’d argue that we have Hollywood to thank for the vast majority of what we think we know about apocalypses. We’ve been particularly informed by the “Zombie Apocalypse” genre of film and television. 

Sermon: "No Such Thing as a Popular Prophet", Jeremiah 17:5-10/Luke 6:17-26 (February 17, 2019)

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As human beings, we’re always learning. The “classroom” might be in a formal school setting, at home, or somewhere else, but no matter where we are, we’re constantly taking in new information. Sometimes, the lessons come naturally and are easy and fun, like learning how to play a new game. Other times, they’re boring and uneventful, but still necessary, like figuring out how to file taxes (or how to convince someone else to do them for you). Either way, we usually manage to absorb these lessons without too much existential fuss; learning them doesn’t significantly alter our perspective on life. But what happens when we’re confronted with a lesson that threatens to turn our understanding of the world upside down?

Sermon: “Finding a Way on the Road of Faith”, Isaiah 6:1-8/Luke 5:1-11 (February 10, 2019)

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Picture this: you’re driving from one end of the United States to the other. You’ve been driving for a while, so you’re a long way from where you started and everything around you is unfamiliar. Let’s imagine, too, that for some reason, you aren’t able to drive on the major highways, so you’re slowly making your way along backroads. It’s been hours and hours since you last saw a sign telling you where you are. You’ve stopped to get gas, and you’re wondering if it’s even worth the effort to keep going. It’s late; you’re tired, and you’re not even certain that you’re still on the right road. Maybe you should just give up.

Sermon: "Places, Everybody!", Jeremiah 1:4-10/Psalm 19:7-14 (February 3, 2019)

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Today in worship, we have a very full day ahead of us. We’re not only sharing Communion as we do every month, but we’re also ordaining and installing our new Deacons and Elders, which generally only happens once a year. It occurs to me that both of these events are celebrations of God’s call on our lives—Communion is a celebration of God’s call on all of us to draw closer into relationship with Christ, and Ordination is a celebration of God’s particular call on individual lives to specific ministries within the church. It’s pretty appropriate, then that the lectionary gave us this reading from Jeremiah where the prophet recounts his own call story. And every time I think about God’s call, it strikes me that there’s good news and there’s bad news.

Sermon: "God Offers", Genesis 1:26-31/2 Corinthians 9:6-15 (January 27, 2019)

1/27/2019

(Fourth in a series of four sermons during our stewardship season)

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Pretty much everyone likes gifts, right? Does anyone here not like them? If you’re that rare person who doesn’t like gifts, it’s probably because our culture has made gift-giving occasions more of an obligation for tradition’s sake than anything else. But I bet that if you try, you could remember a gift that’s brought you joy. See, at their best, gifts are more than just a transactional obligation. Gifts are an expression of our positive feelings towards one another; they’re a way to express ourselves without words.

Sermon: “God Requires”, Micah 6:3-8/1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (January 20, 2019)

1/20/2019

(Second of four in a series of sermons during Stewardship Season)

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Some of you may have noticed that the last two sermons I preached were described in the bulletin as part of a sermon series. If you’re particularly astute, you may have also observed that this one is, too. You may have thought that, at first glance, none of these sermons seem to be connected to each other in any clear way, aside from being about God (which is generally understood to be a baseline requirement of a sermon). You’re not entirely wrong; part of this is practical: I certainly don’t want anyone to show up to church for the first time in a month and feel like they’ve missed a significant piece of a puzzle that I’ve been carefully constructing for weeks. But it’s also because I’ve been trying to set up a progression of ideas (you can let me know later whether or not I’ve been remotely successful). First, I preached about how God speaks to us in all sorts of different ways and how we need to get better at listening to what we might be called to. Then, I preached about how God has claimed us, and how this claim leaves us with a choice about how to respond to it. Now this week is where the rubber finally hits the road: today, we’re going to hear about God’s requirements for us as God’s children. In other words, if we believe that God has a claim on our lives and are genuinely listening for God’s voice, then we’ll inevitably find that we have some obligations we need to fulfill. This week, it’s time for us to nail down exactly what those obligations are.

Sermon: "God Claims", Isaiah 43:1-7/Mark 1:1-13 (January 13, 2019)

1/13/19

(Second of four in a series of sermons during Stewardship Season)

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Here in the PCUSA, we recognize two sacraments: Communion and Baptism. We celebrate these two specifically because each of them is ordained by God and instituted by Christ. In other words, God commands it, and Jesus makes it happen.[1] The sacraments are more than just something that God wants us to do, though. They’re rituals that intimately connect us to the divine in a unique way. When we participate in the sacraments, we encounter Christ both in a mystical way as well as in a practical way, participating in these same acts the same way that Jesus did during his ministry.